Date: 2015-03-02

A team from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has paid a verification visit to the Kwara State University, KWASU, Malete, following discussions on the accessibility of the Federal Government’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund of N220billion launched in 2014.

The visit of the CBN’s Entrepreneurship Development Centre last week Friday was part of the requirements that will enable KWASU Graduate-Entrepreneurs access the Entrepreneurship Development Centre’s portion of the fund meant for the North-Central zone of the country.

According to the Dean, School of Business and Governance of the university, Dr. Muritala Awodun, the visit is specifically to verify the claims of KWASU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship to have trained and graduated students who are now entrepreneurs, adding that some youth who were also trained by KWASU under the State Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship Programme will equally benefit.

He said: “KWASU is the only University that is persistently following up with the EDC and met the conditions laid down for her graduate entrepreneurs to access the fund.”

Professor Fredrick Tyoor, the Executive Director, CBN-EDC for North Central Region with headquarters in Makurdi and leader of the team explained that the Fund, which is in form of a loan, would be accessed through selected Micro-Finance Banks, MFB.

He said the loan would be paid back within a period of four years, with one year moratorium and a one-time single digit 9 per cent interest as against about 35 per cent per annum interest that commercial banks in the country are charging.

Professor Tyoor urged the University management to set up a Monitoring Committee in conjunction with the selected MFB that would ensure the fund eventually released is judiciously utilized by the KWASU graduate entrepreneurs.

He, however, commended the effort of the Dean, who is the former Director of KWASU Centre for Entrepreneurship for his relentless efforts in following up with the CBN since February last year, and for meeting all the various requirements of the guidelines.

This, he said has made this verification visit a reality. Professor Tyoor stated that the journey started when he represented the CBN Governor at the Chief Executives Entrepreneurship Education Retreat, organised by KWASU at Obudu Mountain Resort in February 2014 where he dropped the hint about the MSMEs Fund which the CBN eventually launched in the last quarter of 2014.

While describing the leadership of the University as visionary, pragmatic, progressive and one with unequal ability to effectively manage resources, Tyoor noted that most of the things he found at the Kwara State University are only comparable to what are obtainable at universities like Harvard in USA, considering the young age of KWASU. He declared that KWASU is far ahead of all the universities in Nigeria in terms of entrepreneurship development, and also commended the quality of infrastructure of the University.

“I don’t see most of the things you are doing here in Universities in this country. We are happy that every product of this school, before their graduation are able to register a business and they are properly tutored to have the mentality of becoming those who will create jobs rather than going out to be seekers of job”.

“In other words you are imbibing the global concept of creativity and innovation and build it in your products, so that they no longer depend solely on white collar jobs for employment,” Tyoor said.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor AbdulRasheed Na’Allah said KWASU was doing what the nation should have done many years ago when a former leader said “the problem of Nigeria is not money but what to do with money”.

He said when the young ones have no knowledge of entrepreneurship, it adds more burden on the government, especially with the increasing population in Nigeria, hence the emphasis on entrepreneurship for self-employment and wealth creation built into the curriculum of the University right from inception.

While thanking CBN’s management, Na’Allah said this would further enlighten KWASU graduates that they must create jobs and create wealth. “For our graduates, schooling must be learning to create wealth and create employment”, the VC stated.